Raytheon Technologies Corp., the parent company of East Hartford-based jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney, will require all U.S. workers to be vaccinated, the aerospace and defense conglomerate announced this week.
“In keeping with our ongoing commitment to maintain employee health and safety, Raytheon Technologies will require its U.S. employees to be fully vaccinated to further protect employees and communities from the risks and uncertainty of COVID-19 and its variants,” company officials said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear how long Raytheon Technologies’ employees will have to get their shots if they haven’t already.
Reuters reported Thursday that the company’s deadline would be Jan. 1, citing an unnamed source familiar with the new policy.
Raytheon Technologies’ announcement comes roughly one week after President Joe Biden ordered the U.S. Labor Department to draw up new rules requiring employers with over 100 workers to ensure their employees are either vaccinated or being tested for the coronavirus on a weekly basis. Raytheon, which has around 130,000 employees across dozens of U.S. sites, would fall into that category.
Raytheon Technologies is the successor to the former Raytheon Co. and United Technologies Corp., and as such serves as the parent company of Pratt, North Carolina-based Collins Aerospace — which also has operations in Connecticut — and two intelligence- and security-focused subsidiaries.
